Ambassador, former UN High Representative for Disarmament Affairs. President of Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs.

NEW YORK (IDN) – On April 24, the International Day of Multilateralism and Diplomacy for Peace was observed at the United Nations. At the occasion, Secretary-general António Guterres called for a "networked multilateralism, strengthening coordination among all global multilateral organizations" with the regional multilateral organizations making their vital contributions. His advice is both warranted and timely.

MOSCOW (IDN) – Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi has urged Brazil, Russia, India and South Africa to join Beijing and "stand firm by multilateralism, by the UN-centered international system" and "champion the approach of consultation and cooperation". China and the four countries comprise BRICS.

The group's member countries collectively represent about 26% of the world's geographical area. They are home to 3.6 billion people, about 42% of the world's population and a combined nominal GDP of $16.6 trillion.

The author is UN Under-Secretary-General and Special Adviser on Africa, OSAA. The following is the text of the statement by Ms. Gawanas from the OSAA website*.

NEW YORK (IDN) – If there ever was a time for full-scale global solidarity and cooperation to fight for health rights that time is now because no one country would ever be able to prevent or fully control the COVID-19 pandemic on its own. We are faced with an unprecedented situation brought about by the emergence and rapid spread of COVID-19, the biggest public health emergency of our time.

]]>opinion@inpsnews.net (Opinion Editor)OPINIONFri, 22 May 2020 20:08:20 +0200COVID-19 To Push More Than 34 Million People into Extreme Poverty in 2020https://www.indepthnews.net/index.php/sustainability/global-partnerships/3539-covid-19-to-push-more-than-34-million-people-into-extreme-poverty-in-2020
https://www.indepthnews.net/index.php/sustainability/global-partnerships/3539-covid-19-to-push-more-than-34-million-people-into-extreme-poverty-in-2020

By Santo D. Banerjee

NEW YORK (IDN) — The COVID-19 pandemic is threatening to deal a huge blow to global efforts for eradicating extreme poverty and hunger, two of the vital goals of the 17 SDGs. A new UN report expects more than 34 million people to fall below the extreme poverty line in 2020. 56 percent of them will be in African countries. An additional 130 million people may join the ranks of people living in extreme poverty by 2030.

NEW YORK (IDN) – Our shared vulnerability to the coronavirus pandemic reveals “our common humanity”, UN Secretary-General António Guterres told religious leaders in an online meeting to discuss the role they can play in limiting the damage caused by COVID-19.

Speaking during the meeting on May 12, Guterres said “it lays bare our responsibility to promote solidarity as the foundation of our response – a solidarity based on the human rights and human dignity of all … and it highlights the crucial role of religious leaders in your communities and beyond.”

The writer is a human rights defender, feminist and part-time PhD (Law) candidate.

GABARONE, Botswana (IDN) – 75 years of cooperation, mutual engagement and improving lives. Heralding the decade of action, 2020 has brought many challenges and opportunities for relooking how the systems we live in can be improved for the better. April 24 marks a day for us to deeply reflect, within our homes or essential service work; on what truly matters in humanity.

]]>GINetwork@indepthnews.net (Global Information Network)Africa South of SaharaWed, 15 Apr 2020 18:28:18 +0200COVID-19: Are the World's "Leaders" up to the Challenge?https://www.indepthnews.net/index.php/sustainability/global-partnerships/3457-covid-19-are-the-world-s-leaders-up-to-the-challenge
https://www.indepthnews.net/index.php/sustainability/global-partnerships/3457-covid-19-are-the-world-s-leaders-up-to-the-challenge

Viewpoint by Roberto Savio*

CASAPROTA, Rieti, Italy (IDN) – The letter of 7 April 2020 calling for immediate international action to address issues arising from the COVID-19 crisis sent to the G20 by more than 200 former world leaders, leading economists and global health experts, makes sad reading.

The letter, sent by a group that claims the right to speak on behalf of humanity – when the United Nations was founded for this – demonstrates how a diverse group of personalities, some of whom such as the former Argentine president Mauricio Macri, are the opposite example of good governance and close the circle on the status quo.

Applause for UN Chief's Leadership While Missing Out His 'Global Ceasefire' Plea

By J Nastranis

NEW YORK (IDN) – Short of referring to the clarion call by UN Secretary-General António Guterres on March 23 for "an immediate global ceasefire in all corners of the world", in support of the bigger battle against the devastating pandemic, the Group of 77 (G77) has in a statement congratulated him for his "strong leadership in this time of crisis" and welcomed the launch of the COVID-19Response and Recovery Fund"to strengthen health systems and assist vulnerable populations across the globe".

]]>JNastranis@international-press-syndicate.net (J Nastranis)The Group of 77Tue, 07 Apr 2020 20:14:16 +0200UN Aims at Writing A Greener Story in Asia and the Pacifichttps://www.indepthnews.net/index.php/sustainability/global-partnerships/3408-un-aims-at-writing-a-greener-story-in-asia-and-the-pacific
https://www.indepthnews.net/index.php/sustainability/global-partnerships/3408-un-aims-at-writing-a-greener-story-in-asia-and-the-pacific

Viewpoint by Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana.

The writer is the United Nations Under-Secretary-General and Executive Secretary of ESCAP.

BANGKOK (IDN) – Rising economic prosperity and poverty reduction may not tell the whole story of progress in Asia and the Pacific. Telling signs in the natural world recount a narrative that is far from complete. This year has been particularly affected by the COVID-19 global health pandemic, with devastating impacts on our health and the economy. Yet, building on its achievements, the region must continue its drive towards a sustainable conclusion.

The following are extensive excerpts from the inaugural address of Georges Rebelo Pinto Chikoti, Secretary General of the 79-nation ACP Group of States to the Special Meeting of the ACP Committee of Ambassadors on 2 March 2020 at the ACP House in Brussels. Angola's Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2000-2017, Mr. Chikoti succeeded Dr. Patrick I Gomes on 1 March 2020. He paid him tribute for leading the ACP Group over the last five years and thanked him for his initiatives.

NEW YORK | GENEVA (IDN) — A sudden increase in new cases of COVID-19 is of concern, but the spread of coronavirus is not yet a pandemic, maintains the head of the World Health Organization (WHO).

"Does this virus have pandemic potential? Absolutely, it has. Are we there yet? From our assessment, not yet," WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told journalists in Geneva on February 24.

GENEVA (IDN) —A landmark report focuses on the health and future of children and adolescents worldwide who are under immediate threat from ecological degradation, climate change and exploitative marketing practices that push heavily processed fast food, sugary drinks, alcohol and tobacco at children.

The report by a Commission of over 40 child and adolescent health experts from around the world finds that "children stand on the precipice of a climate crisis" and "no single country is adequately protecting children's health, their environment and their futures".

Kazakhstan assumed the chairmanship of the Group of Landlocked Developing Countries (LLDCs) on 8 January for the period 2020-2021. The following are extensive excerpts from the statement of LLDC Chair Ambassador Kairat Umarov, Permanent Representative of Kazakhstan to the United Nations in New York, at the First 2020 Meeting of the LLDCs at the Ambassadorial level,

COLOMBO (IDN) – Two months after President Gotabaya Rajapaksa assumed office on November 18, 2019, the Indian ocean island republic of Sri Lanka has had the unique distinction of hosting top diplomats of three world powers – the United States, China and Russia. One of the president’s first significant announcements was that Sri Lanka would follow a staunchly non-aligned independent foreign policy.

January 14 was a busy day for President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, his brother Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa and Foreign Minister Dinesh Gunawardena when they had a series of meetings with three foreign dignitaries: the U.S. Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Alice Wells, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi.